Nature Of Childhood In Anthony Browne's Voices In The Park

1. Introduction

Literature connects with the imagination of the child in a deep and profound manner, challenging them to question the world around them, making connections to their own lives, allowing them to become independent and critical thinkers. The Irish Primary Language Curriculum views children as “communicators, readers, writers and thinkers” (Department of Education and Skills, 2016, p.26) and encourages us as teachers to foster and develop these skills during processes of exploration and discovery. (Department of Education and Skills, 2016, p.20) Exposing children to high quality literature, in both the traditional and modern sense of the word allows us to do this.

The role of the picture book in the Infant classroom is a pivotal

This novel presents children with various questions about the nature of childhood, of the uniqueness of each child’s experience, and how factors such as class, gender and religious backgrounds can shape and guide these experiences. The story is based on four very different narrative perspectives, all which focus around one central, familiar place, the local park. Each characters experience of their trip to the park is unique which, when examined collectively challenges the reader to piece together the various stories and read between the lines, creating their own meaning based on their own experiences. Browne’s use of the zoomorphic character is an interesting starting point for the reader, as children innately love stories about animals, however in this sense it serves to distance the reader, making the “gap between the fantasy and reality” explicit. (Pantalio, 2004, p.219)Allowing the children to explore deep themes in the text in a safe, non-threatening manner. Giving them the freedom to take as much or as little from the text as they are developmentally ready to